Obtaining Transaction Accounts Using Identification Cards

ABSTRACT

A system, method, and computer program product are used to obtain a transaction account. The system comprises at least one input device, at least one credit requesting system, at least one transaction account provider, and at least one credit reporting agency. The input device receives an identification card (e.g., driver&#39;s license) and possibly additional information from an individual. The data is then used to automatically generate a transaction account application The transaction account provider receives and evaluates the transaction account application. The credit requesting system is coupled to the transaction account provider and the at least one input device. The credit requesting system controls transmission of the transaction account application to the transaction account provider and receives the evaluation result from the transaction account provider.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to applying for and obtainingtransaction accounts, and more particularly to using an identificationcard to obtain such transaction accounts.

2. Related Art

There are currently several methods of obtaining a transaction account.Many credit-offering companies send out mass mailings of “pre-approved”applications to prospective customers. Those who receive such mailingsand are interested in obtaining a transaction account fill out thewritten application and mail it back for processing. As another example,when a customer is making a purchase at a store, often the sales clerkwill inquire whether the customer is interested in applying for atransaction account, sometimes offering some sort of immediate discountfor doing so. If so, the customer either manually fills out a paperapplication with his or her personal information, or in some casesverbally provides the necessary information to the sales clerk, who thenkeys the information into a computer terminal.

There are several disadvantages to this latter method of applying for atransaction account. It is time consuming and can be somewhat annoyingfor the customer to manually fill out the paper application whilestanding in a store. The applications are typically small and hard toread, having little space for the necessary information. In someinstances, a customer might sloppily complete the application, hand itto the sales clerk, and then the clerk has to ask the consumer toverbally provide the needed information because some if it might beillegible. This is a further waste of time. A more substantialdisadvantage is the possibility of identity theft.

In this age of identity theft and credit fraud, consumers are moreprotective than ever of their personal information. When applying fortransaction accounts, consumers are very wary of having to supply andsubmit any personal information. This is even more prevalent when theapplication for credit is done in a public place, such as in a store orother point-of-sale area.

Given the foregoing, what is needed is a system, method and computerprogram product for automatically applying for a transaction accountwith the use of an identification card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention meets the above-identified needs by providing asystem, method and computer program product for automatically completinga transaction account application with the use of a consumer'sidentification card.

The present invention provides a system and method in which a consumer'sidentification card is received by a customer service representative.The identification card is then scanned by a card reading device,whereby the format of the identification card is validated. Theconsumer's personal information is then automatically imported from theidentification card into the transaction account application. Theinformation is then used to complete the application, and theapplication is transmitted to a transaction account provider. Thetransaction account provider processes the application and thentransmits a decision back to the customer service representative.

Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as thestructure and operation of various embodiments of the present inventionare described in detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken inconjunction with the drawings. The left-most digit of a reference numberidentifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating various processes, according to oneor more embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a sample computer system that can be usedin the implementation of one or more embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a system, method and computerprogram product for obtaining a transaction account with the use of aconsumer's identification card.

The present invention is now described in more detail herein in terms ofthe above exemplary description. This is for convenience only and is notintended to limit the application of the present invention. In fact,after reading the following description, it will be apparent to oneskilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the following inventionin alternative embodiments.

Terminology

The terms “user,” “consumer”, “customer,” etc., and/or the plural formof these terms are used interchangeably throughout herein to refer tothose persons or entities capable of accessing, using, being affected byand/or benefiting from the tool that the present invention provides forobtaining transaction accounts using a consumer's identification card.

The terms “business”, “customer service representative”, or “merchant”may be used interchangeably with each other and shall mean any person,entity, distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider,broker and/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods orservices. For example, a merchant may be a grocery store, a retailstore, a travel agency, a service provider, an on-line merchant or thelike.

The term “transaction account provider” or the plural form of this termis used throughout herein to refer to any business entity that isengaged in the business of providing transaction card accounts or thelike. Currently, there are a variety of such entities, such as AmericanExpress, but the present invention is not limited to any particular suchentity.

The term “transaction card” as used herein may include any type of openor closed charge card, credit card, debit card, stored value card, anRFID chip based card or token, and the like.

RFID and Transmission of Magnetic Stripe Data

It should be noted that the transfer of information in accordance withthe present invention may be done in a format recognizable by a merchantsystem or account issuer. In that regard, by way of example, theinformation may be transmitted from an RFID device to an RFID reader, orfrom the RFID reader to the merchant system in magnetic stripe ormulti-track magnetic stripe format.

Because of the proliferation of devices using magnetic stripe format,the standards for coding information in magnetic stripe format werestandardized by the International Organization for Standardization inISO/IEC 7811-n (characteristics for identification cards) which areincorporated herein by reference. The ISO/IEC 7811 standards specify theconditions for conformance, physical characteristics for the card(warpage and surface distortions) and the magnetic stripe area(location, height and surface profile, roughness, adhesion, wear andresistance to chemicals), the signal amplitude performancecharacteristics of the magnetic stripe, the encoding specificationincluding technique (MFM), angle of recording, bit density, fluxtransition spacing variation and signal amplitude, the data structureincluding track format, use of error correction techniques, user datacapacity for ID-1, ID-2 and ID-3 size cards, and decoding techniques,and the location of encoded tracks.

Typically, magnetic stripe information is formatted in three tracks.Certain industry information must be maintained on certain portions ofthe tracks, while other portions of the tracks may have open datafields. The contents of each track and the formatting of the informationprovided to each track is controlled by the ISO/IEC 7811 standard. Forexample, the information must typically be encoded in binary. Track 1 isusually encoded with user information (i.e., name) in alpha-numericformat. Track 2 is typically comprised of discretionary andnondiscretionary data fields. In one example, the nondiscretionary fieldmay comprise 19 characters and the discretionary field may comprise 13characters. Track 3 is typically reserved for financial transactions andincludes enciphered versions of the user's personal identificationnumber, country code, current units amount authorized per cycle,subsidiary accounts, and restrictions.

As such, where information is provided in accordance with the presentinvention, it may be provided in magnetic stripe track format. Forexample, the counter values, authentication tags and encryptedidentifiers, described herein, may be forwarded encoded in all or aportion of a data stream representing data encoded in, for example,track 2 or track 3 format.

Databases

The databases discussed herein may be any type of database, such asrelational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Commondatabase products that may be used to implement the databases includeDB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y), any of the database products availablefrom Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.), Microsoft Access orMSSQL by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other databaseproduct. Databases may be organized in any suitable manner, including asdata tables or lookup tables. Association of certain data may beaccomplished through any data association technique known and practicedin the art. For example, the association may be accomplished eithermanually or automatically. Automatic association techniques may include,for example, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in each of themanufacturer and retailer data tables. A “key field” partitions thedatabase according to the high-level class of objects defined by the keyfield. For example, a certain class may be designated as a key field inboth the first data table and the second data table, and the two datatables may then be merged on the basis of the class data in the keyfield. In this embodiment, the data corresponding to the key field ineach of the merged data tables is preferably the same. However, datatables having similar, though not identical, data in the key fields mayalso be merged by using AGREP, for example.

System Overview

FIG. 1 shows a system 100, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. System 100 includes an input device 102, a credit requestingsystem 104, a transaction account provider 106, and a credit reportingagency 108. In one embodiment, devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 arecoupled via a network 110, while in other embodiments they can bedirectly linked. Network 110 can be a wired or wireless local ordistributed system which can utilize the Internet, an intranet, anextranet, or the like, or any similar or analogous communication systemas would be known to persons skilled in the relevant art.

In one example, input device 102 comprises one or more devices thatallow for capturing personal information from an identification card(e.g., driver's license) and, if necessary, additional informationassociated with a consumer. For example, input device 102 can be, but isnot limited to, a card reader, a bar code reader, a keyboard, a touchscreen, a kiosk, a voice recognition system, or any other system thatallows for this functionality. In one example, input device 102 can belocated at a merchant's location, for example, a supermarket, warehousestore, electronics store, point-of-sale terminal, or the like. Invarious examples, the additional information can be Social Securitynumber (or partial Social Security number, as discussed in co-owned U.Spatent application Ser. No. 11/236,822, filed Sep. 28, 2005, which isincorporated herein by reference) employer, creditor's names, monthlydebt payments, or any other information that can be used along with theinformation scanned from the identification card to uniquely identifythe consumer to transaction account provider 106.

In one example, there may be more than one input device 102, transactionaccount requesting system 104, transaction account provider 106, andcredit reporting agency 108, coupled together either directly or viaoptional network 110. This can be when several point-of-sale (orpoint-of-credit application) devices (e.g., input devices 102) sendinformation about several requesting individuals to more than onetransaction account provider (e.g., transaction account providers 106)from either the same merchant or different merchants. The transactionaccount providers might request credit reports from one or more creditreporting agencies 108, by way of one or more credit requesting systems104.

In one example, the personal information and the comparison result canbe encrypted or otherwise secured during transmission.

Process Overview

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart illustrating a process 200, according to oneembodiment of the present invention. Process 200 begins at step 202, atwhich a consumer requests a transaction account application. In step204, the consumer provides his or her identification card, which is thenscanned by an input device, such as a card reader. An example of a cardreader could be one such as the idScan, described athttp://www.card-scanner.com/id-scan-license.html. In step 206, the inputdevice determines the validity of the identification card. If theidentification card is not validated, the application process isterminated at step 207. If the card is determined to be valid, at step208, the transaction account application is automatically populated withdata scanned from the identification card. In step 210, the consumerreviews the application for correctness. Although not always required,the consumer may also provide additional information at this step. Theadditional information can be a Social Security number (or partialSocial Security number, as discussed in above-referenced U.S patentapplication Ser. No. 11/236,822), employer, creditor's names, monthlydebt payments, or any other information that can be used along with theinformation scanned from the identification card to uniquely identifythe consumer and determine the consumer's creditworthiness. In step 212,the transaction account application is transmitted to the transactionaccount provider.

In step 214, the transaction account provider receives the application.At this point, optional step 216 may begin. In optional step 216, theinformation captured from the identification card is compared to adatabase of known identification card information. If a match is found,the information is compared to further determine the validity of theidentification card, as shown in step 218. If the information does notmatch correctly, then it is possible that the identification card iscounterfeit. If a card is determined to be invalid or counterfeit, itsdata is stored in a database of counterfeit cards, as shown in step 226.The application process is then terminated at step 207.

If the card is determined to be valid, the process moves on to step 220,where the transaction account application is processed. Typically, thetransaction account provider will transmit the consumer's data to acredit reporting agency to obtain the consumer's credit report. Thecredit reporting agency can be any established credit reporting agencyor bureau (e.g., TransUnion, Equifax and Experian), or any creditreporting agency now operating or established in the future.

If there is a match of the consumer's data in the credit reportingagency's records, a credit report is transmitted to the transactionaccount provider. The credit report is then used in the decision toapprove or deny the transaction account application. In step 222, theresult of the decision is transmitted back to the credit requester(e.g., the store merchant), and the transaction account is then eitherapproved or rejected in step 224.

Example Implementations

The present invention (i.e., system 100, process 200, or any part(s) orfunction(s) thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software or acombination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computersystems or other processing systems. However, the manipulationsperformed by the present invention are often referred to in terms, suchas receiving or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of the present invention.Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines forperforming the operation of the present invention include generalpurpose digital computers or similar devices.

In fact, in one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or morecomputer systems capable of carrying out the functionality describedherein. An example of a computer system 300 is shown in FIG. 3.

The computer system 300 includes one or more processors, such asprocessor 304. The processor 304 is connected to a communicationinfrastructure 306 (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, ornetwork). Various software embodiments are described in terms of thisexemplary computer system. After reading this description, it willbecome apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how toimplement the invention using other computer systems and/orarchitectures.

Computer system 300 can include a display interface 302 that forwardsgraphics, text, and other data from the communication infrastructure 306(or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on the display unit 330.

Computer system 300 also includes a main memory 308, preferably randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 310. Thesecondary memory 310 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 312and/or a removable storage drive 314, representing a floppy disk drive,a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storagedrive 314 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 318 in awell known manner. Removable storage unit 318 represents a floppy disk,magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to byremovable storage drive 314. As will be appreciated, the removablestorage unit 318 includes a computer usable storage medium having storedtherein computer software and/or data.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 310 may include othersimilar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions tobe loaded into computer system 300. Such devices may include, forexample, a removable storage unit 322 and an interface 320. Examples ofsuch may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such asthat found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as anerasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable readonly memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removable storageunits 322 and interfaces 320, which allow software and data to betransferred from the removable storage unit 322 to computer system 300.

Computer system 300 may also include a communications interface 324.Communications interface 324 allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system 300 and external devices. Examples ofcommunications interface 324 may include a modem, a network interface(such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal ComputerMemory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc.Software and data transferred via communications interface 324 are inthe form of signals 328 which may be electronic, electromagnetic,optical or other signals capable of being received by communicationsinterface 324. These signals 328 are provided to communicationsinterface 324 via a communications path (e.g., channel) 326. Thischannel 326 carries signals 328 and may be implemented using wire orcable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link and other communications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removablestorage drive 314, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 312, andsignals 328. These computer program products provide software tocomputer system 300. The invention is directed to such computer programproducts.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory 308 and/or secondary memory 310. Computer programsmay also be received via communications interface 324. Such computerprograms, when executed, enable the computer system 300 to perform thefeatures of the present invention, as discussed herein. In particular,the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor 304 toperform the features of the present invention. Accordingly, suchcomputer programs represent controllers of the computer system 300.

In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, thesoftware may be stored in a computer program product and loaded intocomputer system 300 using removable storage drive 314, hard drive 312 orcommunications interface 324. The control logic (software), whenexecuted by the processor 304, causes the processor 304 to perform thefunctions of the invention as described herein.

In another embodiment, the invention is implemented primarily inhardware using, for example, hardware components such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardwarestate machine so as to perform the functions described herein will beapparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using acombination of both hardware and software.

Conclusion

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled inthe relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, as appropriate in the jurisdiction(s) in which the presentinvention is implemented). Thus, the present invention should not belimited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments, but shouldbe defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

In addition, it should be understood that the figures and screen shotsillustrated in the attachments, which highlight the functionality andadvantages of the present invention, are presented for example purposesonly. The architecture of the present invention is sufficiently flexibleand configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in waysother than that shown in the accompanying figures.

Further, the purpose of the following Abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to thescope of the present invention in any way.

1. A method for obtaining a transaction account, comprising: (a)receiving an identification card to identify an individual; (b)automatically determining the validity of the identification card; (c)automatically entering data pertaining to the individual into atransaction account application, said data being received from theidentification card; (d) transmitting the completed transaction accountapplication from an input device to a transaction account provider; (e)evaluating the transaction account application; and (f) transmitting theresult of the evaluation back to the input device.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises requiring said individual toreview said data on the transaction account application, and ifnecessary, to: (i) correct said data; and/or (ii) provide additionaldata.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the additional data provided instep (c)(ii) comprises at least a Social Security Number or a PartialSocial Security Number.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:requesting a search of a database of at least one credit reportingagency using the data provided by the identification card to evaluatethe transaction account application.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: (g) automatically comparing the data read from theidentification card with a database of known identification cards; and(h) automatically determining the validity of the identification cardusing the result of the database comparison.
 6. The method of claim 5,further comprising: entering the identification card data into adatabase of counterfeit identification cards, if said identificationcard is determined to be invalid.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinsteps (a)-(f) are performed at different physical locations.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein steps (a)-(c) are performed in one of apublic place, a store, and a point-of-sale area.
 9. A system forobtaining a transaction account, comprising: at least one input devicethat reads an identification card of an individual and automaticallyprepares a transaction account application; at least one transactionaccount provider coupled to the at least one input device, wherein thetransaction account provider evaluates the transaction accountapplication; at least one credit reporting agency coupled to at leastone transaction account provider, wherein the credit reporting agencytransmits a credit report to the transaction account provider; and atleast one credit requesting system coupled to the at least one inputdevice, the at least one transaction account provider, and the at leastone credit reporting agency, the credit requesting system facilitatingtransmission of the transaction account application to and from theinput device and the transaction account provider.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, further comprising: a network coupling together the at leastone input device, the at least one credit requesting system, the atleast one transaction account provider, and the at least one creditreporting agency.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least oneinput device comprises a card reader.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the at least one input device and the at least one creditrequesting system are located in one of a public place, a store, and apoint-of-sale area.
 13. A computer program product for obtaining atransaction account, the computer program product comprising a computerreadable medium having control logic stored therein, said control logiccomprising: first computer readable program code means for causing thecomputer to automatically receive identification of an individual basedon data read from an identification card; second computer readableprogram code means for causing the computer to receive additionalidentifying information from the individual; third computer readableprogram code means for causing the computer to complete a transactionaccount application using the data read from the identification card andthe additional identifying information; fourth computer readable programcode means for causing the computer to transmit the completedtransaction account application to a transaction account provider forevaluation; and fifth computer readable program code means for causingthe transaction account provider to evaluate the transaction accountapplication; and sixth computer readable program code means fortransmitting the result of the evaluation back to a credit requestingsystem.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein said fifthcomputer readable program code means causes the computer to request asearch of a database of at least one credit reporting agency to retrievea credit report, whereby the credit report is used in part to evaluatethe transaction account application.
 15. The computer program product ofclaim 13, wherein the additional information comprises at least a SocialSecurity Number or a Partial Social Security Number.